Michelle Wright at the 2019 Mission Folk Festival.
The night was just starting to cool down for the last act of the 2019 Mission Folk Festival at the Fraser River Heritage Park, Mission, British Columbia, Canada. the energy was high with anticipation for the main act of the weekend to play Canadian recording star Michelle Wright.
With the release of her first new album in five years, Merlin, Ontario’s Michelle Wright shows again why her expressive voice and distinctive style has earned her the respect and accolationd of her peer and being one of the the country’s most widely recognized and awarded female country singers of the 1990s, winning the Canadian Country Music Association’s Fans’ Choice Award twice (1993 and 1995). In 2011, Wright was inducted into the Canadian Country Music Hall of Fame. In Canada she has charted more than twenty-five singles, including six Number One hits.
With a huge burst of cheering Michelle and her touring partner humbly took to the stage and launched into a set of acoustic duets of many of her top hits and a few choice selections from her newest album, while telling stories of her past which captivated the audience which made the entire performance seem more like it was in Michelle backyard than at a festival. She encourage the fans to come right up to the stage to dance and frequently answered back questions and shouts from the audience for one song or another.
At one point towards the middle of the show, Michelle sang a wonderful rendition of Al Green’s classic hit “I’m So In Love With You”. Luckily I was standing 5 feet away directly in front of the main center speaker, was relatively stationary and luck enough to hit the video record on the camera as I knew this would be worth watching again. What started out as a beautiful ode to Al Green but as one for the memory books…for anyone that attend if not for Michelle herself. Towards the end of the song…one overly enthusiastic member of the audience (a Mr. Robert Heritage) who began to sing back to her. Without a pause Michelle motioned for the male crooner to come closer to the stage which he finally did. Michelle bent down on to her hands and knee and sang the song with her new partner…jokingly saying to her guitarist that they would have to extend it one more verse. Together they entertained everyone with the sheer spontaneity of the moment and we were all there to witness something you just do not get to see often enough. It was a special moment that we all got to share at that moment. It truly was something that I will remember and I am sure so will everyone that witnessed it…including the lucky crooner and Michelle. And as a treat for you electronicGIG is proud to share that moment with you in the video below…we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Overall it was a brilliant performance by one of the best country singers Canada has honour to call own of our own and was the icing on the cake to one of the most fun festivals I have had the honour to attend.
Photography Article and Video by Ken Boyer for electronicGIG©
